Magento is one of the reliable eCommerce platforms that have gone through a breakthrough with its advanced and feature-rich version. stores that are using its previous version i.e. Magento 1 has moved years ago as keeping a website abreast with the latest technology is the key to success. However, few of the stores are still left with the same version. They are facing support and functionality issues as Magento officially terminated support for them back in 2020.
Migrating to Magento is mandatory. Once moving an established web business to a new platform was considered a risk. However, the availability of tools, extensions, and experience resources has made it easier. It all needs a well-crafted Magento 2 migration plan and its flawless execution. Following are some of the key things you need to know while creating a plan.
- Find Store’s Requirements
You can start making a plan by recognizing your store’s requirements. With every passing day, you may have to face new challenges in serving the clients, customers, and users on your webshop. Their behavior may change over the years or your business may need a more vibrant design or an upgrade.
Find such requirements about your store before planning any migration. Migration is difficult because you have to look after so many things.
- Carry an Audit
Before you make a Magento 1 store ready for Migration, you must carry out an audit or review the site. It will help you find the data that must be moved forward to the improved website. it is the moment that you can lay off the burdensome content by segregating the useless data to pursue a well-optimized website structure.
Save cost and time by reviewing the features and functionalities beforehand. Try to remove the features you no longer need or will no longer be useful after migration. Magento 2 itself is a feature-rich version of it Magento. Therefore, you may never need a few extensions you have installed for petty functionalities. There is no need to move to a recently developed and updated version with redundant features.
To make your move towards Magento 2, it is mandatory to check the extensions and their compatibility with the advanced version. The add-ons you have been using in the current eCommerce website may not work in the latest version as Magento 2 is a complete restructuring of the code. it will be like renewing the website. The current themes and extensions may be obsolete as soon as you migrate, so you have to spend again on them. To be on the safe side, you can reach out to the theme and extensions developer to get alternatives at discounted prices.
- Data Migration
Data is the most valuable asset of any eCommerce store. It may include details about products, orders, suppliers, customers, sales, and lots more. Professional migration services do take a backup of your entire data and then import it step by step.
Before you move, you must plan data import too. If you are managing with the help of an agency, you can make it faster with Magento 2 Order Import extension. It allows you to import orders in bulk with a click. Using the filters, one can easily extract orders of a specific date, customer, or address. Similarly, you can use other tools for products and other data import.
- Plan Your Capacity
An established eCommerce website has returning visitors and regular customers. They have an extended web presence that’s why they keep on serving tons of traffic. Before you plan Magento 2 migration, you must plan capacity as well. Ensure the proposed platform handles the same and more traffic from the current situation. You must also look into the sales and order volume in the capacity check.
- Making the site Migration Ready
Plan the additional tools and extensions you will need in the newly set up website. Moving to an advanced platform is a difficult decision. However, it comes with a multitude of perks as well. The features you are restricted to use in the archaic version of Magento will now be available with advanced functionality in Magento 2. Plan and arrange these tools to ensure their seamless installation and configuration.
- Assess Technical SEO
Technical SEO is the foundation stone of a website towards better web exposure. You need to evaluate the technical aspects of the SEO to make sure the issues never appear on the new site. Find the issues and ask the developers and the SEO team to fix them before moving to Magento 2.
In addition to the technical SEO, you must review the on-page SEO elements as well. It will help you prevent losing ranking and web exposure despite migration. Factors you must consider here include:
- SEO-optimized URLs for products and categories pages
- Personalized Meta tags and descriptions
- Images with optimized titles, descriptions, and alt text
- Creative and SEO content
- Canonical tags
- Active internal links
- Microdata
- Rich snippets
- Trial and Testing
Set multiple testing phases in a plan to ensure the data backup is smooth and the site is ready to migrate. It is advisable to move forward with trial and testing. Try one thing and test whether it works or not. It will help you find bugs and issues in real time. You will have the opportunity to fix the issue before moving further.
Conclusion
Migrating to Magento 2 can be a daunting task, but with the right plan and execution, it can be a smooth process. By following the steps outlined in this post, you can draft a better migration plan. You need to ensure that your migration is successful and that your store is ready for the future. Remember to work with experienced developers and test your new Magento 2 store thoroughly before going live.